Joan Ball is a business professor at St. John’s University in New York and the author of Flirting with Faith: My Spiritual Journey from Atheism to a Faith-Filled Life.
Last week, the
Associated Press reported the story of a Pittsburgh mother who is suing her
daughter’s school district under Title IX after her daughter developed an eating disorder. The
disorder, she claims, came about because of bullying by boys in her daughter’s
classes – bullying the school district failed to prevent or address. The school denies all
responsibility in this sad case, but I wonder if they ought to own up to at
least some liability.
To quote the article:
“With eating disorders, we say you’re born
with a gun and life pulls the trigger,” said Lynn Grefe, chief executive
officer of Seattle-based NEDA
(National Eating Disorders Association), who has never heard of a school being
sued over such a scenario. Generally, people who develop anorexia already have
issues with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive or perfectionist behavior. Bullying
could trigger anorexia in those people but not others who are taunted about
their weight, Grefe said.
Hm. Well, I’m not sure if this is exactly a fair analogy,
but I was born with a tendency to react strongly to trauma, but I still sued
the crap out of my high school when I had an accident in shop class due to
their negligence and subsequently suffered PTSD.
I figure they’ve got to take into account that at least some percentage of their student body
will be extra sensitive to taunts about weight – heck, according to some stats
I found, as many as 10 million U.S. women (and 1 million men) are suffering
with eating disorders at any given time.
As someone who has struggled with body image issues for many
years, I know how easy it is to take in messages from one’s peers (and from
society at large) that one is unacceptable. It’s a small leap from a young girl’s
being told she’s no good the way she is to her starving herself into acceptability.
Whether it’s the school’s job to anticipate this as a possible consequence of a
few mean boys’ bullying behavior, and whether this is truly a Title IX case, I don’t feel qualified to answer, but I
suspect the purpose of the suit is more to bring attention to the issue than to
truly expect the district to take full responsibility for the girl’s disease.
In sum, I think this Pittsburgh mom’s going to have the
devil of a time proving her case in court, but I am glad she brought it,
whether she wins or not. Maybe next time the school’s counselors will make more
of an effort to intervene when students are being bullied.
What’s your take? Is this a frivolous lawsuit or was she one righteous mama?
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posted August 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm
The problem is that schools have very little power to discipline kids anymore, and that we don’t pay teachers enough to attract really smart people to the profession. My mother, who became a teacher when it was what most of the really smart girls did, was a strict disciplinarian within the context of anemic public school disciplinary procedures because she’s clever and a no-shit gal. But no-shit gals don’t become public school junior high school teachers anymore–they become something that pays better.
posted August 28, 2009 at 9:18 am
I couldn’t disagree more. Parents need to take responsibility for their children. Self-esteem comes from a child’s sense of being loved. Unconditionally, from the start. If the mother saw that her child was struggling she should have gotten her help long before she developed anorexia.Stop blaming the schools and teachers because YOU didn’t do YOUR job properly.
Example: My son was being bullied in his school. I phoned the child up and gave him a very serious lecture on how he was to treat my son in the future and what would happen if he continued to bully him (ie, parent conference with the headmaster, possible police involvement, etc). I then phoned his parents (the kid was home alone)and told the dad exactly what I’d said to his son. Silence. Then the dad asked if his son could come live with me for a week!
posted August 28, 2009 at 10:10 am
The mother here does not have to “prove” that the bullying caused her daughter’s anorexia. Rather, she only has to prove that the bullying existed and that the school should have taken steps to stop it and their inaction caused her daughter to lose an educational opportunity. The fact that this girl had to be removed from her school altogether certainly constitutes a loss of an educational opportunity.
@Leslie: It’s often not that simple. Many times children who are being bullied do not tell their parents for fear of appearing weak or because they are ashamed. And even the most confident of students can waver when their self-esteem is continually destroyed on a daily basis over the course of TWO YEARS.
posted August 28, 2009 at 12:25 pm
If you or someone you love has an eating disorder and are looking for help, please call the National Eating Disorders Association’s toll-free, confidential Helpline. 800.931.2237. (www.nationaleatingdisorders.org) Recovery is possible.
posted August 31, 2009 at 10:30 pm
No. The school should NOT be sued.
Also, I know it isn’t the school’s place to do this but for any teachers who might care to do this:
In my school, we had a pretty good education about eating right and exercising, and I think that did prevent eating disorders. Also, in our freshman health class, boys got a good serious talking to about bullying like that and what it can really can do to girls. I think that is a good idea in all schools, because it worked for the most part in mine.
There is no psychological reason for anorexia other than that they just want to be skinny. A little education goes a long way
posted September 2, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Leslie, your comment is incredibly insulting to all the excellent parents out there whose children are suffering from eating disorders. They’re complicated diseases influenced by a variety of factors; parental support can do a lot, but it can’t fix everything.
posted September 2, 2009 at 10:30 pm
ME: I can’t help but take issue with your comment: “There is no psychological reason for anorexia other than that they just want to be skinny. A little education goes a long way”
I’m sorry but that’s just not so. Anorexia is an extremely complex psychological disorder, and dismissing it the way you did both trivializes the issue and stigmatizes the women (and men) who suffer from this very real, heartbreaking and deadly disease. Forgive me if it sounds harsh, but a little ‘education’ on your part might indeed go a long way…